David Zwirner gallery in New York hosted a four-day benefit exhibition titled “Toward the Light: Artists for the Ali Forney Center,” which raised $950,000 for the Ali Forney Center, a nonprofit supporting queer youth with housing, education, job training, and medical care. Curated by art adviser Stephen Truax, the show featured 37 artists, including Ross Bleckner, Marlene Dumas, Jenna Gribbon, Julie Mehretu, and Wolfgang Tillmans, and generated $1.2 million in sales, with artists receiving $250,000 and the gallery waiving its commission. Truax, who previously co-organized smaller editions with Sotheby’s, shifted to a gallery partnership to gain more control over sales and pricing, more than doubling his initial $350,000 fundraising goal.
This exhibition matters because it demonstrates how commercial galleries can effectively amplify charitable fundraising in the art world, offering a model that benefits the gallery, the charity, and the artists. The event’s success—nearly tripling the $373,000 raised in 2024—highlights growing community support for queer youth amid political precarity, as noted by artist Doron Langberg. It also reflects a strategic shift from auction-house partnerships to gallery-led initiatives, potentially influencing future benefit models in the art market.